São Tomé and Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe is an African island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, consisting of the main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe (located 87 miles apart) and two archipelagos. On 21 December 1471, Portugal discovered the island of São Tomé, and the island of Príncipe was discovered on 17 January 1472. The islands became home to large sugar plantations, and slaves were imported from West Africa to work the labor-intensive jobs. In 1719, the pirate Bartholomew Roberts destroyed the Portuguese fort at San Antonio on Príncipe in revenge for the death of Captain Howell Davis, his former commander, and the islands were a pirate haven during the last few years of the Golden Age of Piracy. The islands would remain colonies of Portugal until 1975, when São Tomé and Príncipe gained its independence. São Tomé and Príncipe would become one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries, and the country had a population of 190,428 in 2014.